After an Inauguration Like No Other, a New Era in Washington
After the inauguration, President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took part in a parade that had been reimagined for the pandemic. Ms. Harris, who is the first woman and the first woman of color to serve as vice president, swore in the Rev. Raphael Warnock, Jon Ossoff and Alex Padilla as U.S. senators.
Senators strike last-ditch deal to confirm Biden’s intelligence director before Inauguration Day ends.
‘Democracy has prevailed,’ President Biden declares as he is inaugurated.
Kamala Harris is sworn in as vice president, a barrier-breaking moment in U.S. history.
With two newly elected Georgians officially joining their ranks, Democrats take Senate control.
After an inauguration like no other, Biden arrived at the White House.
Virtual ‘Parade Across America’ featured dancing, drumlines and dogs.
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On Day 1, Biden will wield executive authority to undo Trump’s legacy.
Biden, taking office amid chaos, seeks to project ‘calm resolve.’
The Biden administration quickly revamped the White House website. Here’s how.
“My fellow Americans … … this is America’s day.” Singing: “And the home of the brave.” “Please raise your right hand and repeat after me.” “I, Kamala Devi Harris, do solemnly swear.” “That I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” “So help me God.” “I, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., do solemnly swear.” “That I will faithfully execute.” “That I will faithfully execute.” “The Office of President of the United States.” “The Office of President of the United States.” “So help you God.” “So help me God.” “Congratulations, Mr. President.” “We’ve learned again that democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile, and at this hour my friends, democracy has prevailed. We’ll press forward with speed and urgency, for we have much to do in this winter of peril, and significant possibilities. Much to repair, much to restore, much to heal, much to build and much to gain. And here we stand, just days after a riotous mob thought they could use violence to silence the will of the people. It did not happen. It will never happen. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever. Not ever. To all those who did not support us, let me say this. Hear me out as we move forward. Take a measure of me and my heart. If you still disagree, so be it. That’s democracy. That’s America. Yet here me clearly. Disagreement must not lead to disunion. And I pledge this to you. I will be a president for all Americans — all Americans. I’d like to ask you to join me in a moment of silent prayer. Remember all those who we lost this past year to the pandemic, those 400,000 fellow Americans … … amen. Together, we shall write an American story of hope, not fear. Of unity, not division. Of light, not darkness. A story of decency and dignity, love and healing, greatness and goodness. May this be the story that guides us. May God bless America and may God protect our troops. Thank you, America.” “I wish the new administration great luck and great success.”
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, taking office at a moment of profound economic, health and political crises with a promise to seek unity after a tumultuous four years that tore at the fabric of American society.
“This is America’s day,” Mr. Biden said as he began his Inaugural Address. “This is democracy’s day.”
After a deeply tumultuous transition, including the storming of the Capitol by supporters of now-former President Donald J. Trump, “democracy has prevailed,” Mr. Biden said, in a speech that immediately laid out the contrast between himself and his predecessor.
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“To overcome these challenges, to restore the soul and secure the future of America, requires so much more than words,” Mr. Biden added. “It requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy: unity.”
Mr. Biden’s plea for the country to come together echoed a defining theme of his presidential campaign, a message that has only taken on greater urgency in recent weeks.
“We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal,” he said. “We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts.”
“Politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire, destroying everything in its path,” he said. “Every disagreement doesn’t have to be a cause for total war. And we must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured.”
The ceremony on a chilly, breezy day with a smattering of snowflakes brought to a close the stormy and divisive four-year presidency of Mr. Trump. In characteristic fashion, Mr. Trump once again defied tradition by leaving Washington hours before the swearing-in of his successor rather than face the reality of his own election defeat, although Mike Pence, his vice president, did attend.
“Recent weeks and months have taught us a painful lesson,” Mr. Biden said in his address. “There is truth and there are lies.”
But he sought to emphasize the long arc of history.
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“Here we stand, looking out on the great Mall where Dr. King spoke of his dream,” he said. “Here we stand, where 108 years ago at another inaugural, thousands of protesters tried to block brave women marching for the right to vote. And today we mark the swearing-in of the first woman in American history elected to national office, Vice President Kamala Harris. Don’t tell me things can’t change.”
“Please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, Kamala Devi Harris, do solemnly swear.” “I, Kamala Devi Harris, do solemnly swear.” “That I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” “That I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” “Against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” “Against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” “That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.” “That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.” “That I take this obligation freely.” “That I take this obligation freely.” “Without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion.” “Without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion.” “That I will well and faithfully discharge.” ”That I will well and faithfully discharge.” “The duties of the office on which I am about to enter.” “The duties of the office upon which I am about to enter.” “So help me God.” “So help me God.” [applause]
But Ms. Harris’s role in the new administration will be much more than a symbolic one.
With the Senate now split evenly between Democrats and Republicans, Ms. Harris may find herself casting the decisive vote in many crucial moments, as the vice president wields tiebreaking power. Ambitious legislation on the coronavirus, the economy, climate change and other policy matters will be high on President Biden’s agenda, and her vote may prove critical. One of her first official acts in her new role will be to swear in three new Democratic senators.
Many expect Mr. Biden will also rely on her prosecutorial chops and her personal energy as a crucial member of the administration. And given speculation that Mr. Biden, who is 78, may not seek a second term, Ms. Harris is sure to face intense scrutiny over her own political future.
But for many, it’s the voice she will offer to women and people of color that was being reflected on as she took office.
“That’s so important, to have a Black woman, a South Asian woman’s perspective, on the big issues that this administration has to tackle,” said Representative Barbara Lee, Democrat of California and a longtime ally of Ms. Harris’s. “She’ll bring a justice lens, a racial justice lens, racial equity, to everything and every policy and every decision that’s going to be made.”
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Hillary Clinton, the only woman ever to receive a major party’s presidential nomination, highlighted the barrier-breaking nature of Ms. Harris’s achievement in a tweet on Wednesday.
“It delights me to think that what feels historical and amazing to us today — a woman sworn in to the vice presidency — will seem normal, obvious, “of course” to Kamala’s grand-nieces as they grow up,” she wrote, posting a photo of Ms. Harris with the two little girls. “And they will be right.”
With the inauguration of Ms. Harris as vice president, her husband, Douglas Emhoff, 56, had two firsts of his own: the first “second gentleman” and the first Jewish spouse of a president or vice president. The details of what Mr. Emhoff, an entertainment lawyer, might do with the platform are unclear, but he has discussed focusing on “access to justice.”
An earlier version of this post misstated when John Adams became the vice president. It was 232 years ago, not 212 years ago.
“If the Senators-elect and Senator-designate will now present themselves at the desk, the chair will administer the oath of office.” “Mr. Ossoff, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Warnock.” “Please raise your right hand. OK, do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that you take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are about to enter so help you God?” Senators: “I do.” “Congratulations.” [applause]
Democrats on Wednesday officially claimed control of the Senate as Vice President Kamala Harris swore in two newly elected Democratic senators from Georgia and her successor from California, bringing the party’s tally of seats to 50.
With Republicans also holding 50 seats, Ms. Harris gives the Democrats majority status because of the vice president’s ability to break ties as president of the Senate.
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Just hours after taking her own oath of office outside the Capitol, Ms. Harris was greeted with a standing ovation in the well of the Senate, where she administered the oaths to Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock of Georgia, who won Jan. 5 runoff elections, as well as Alex Padilla of California, who was appointed to fill the vice president’s seat and became the state’s first Latino senator.
Before doing so, she read from an official document referring to Mr. Padilla as the appointee to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of “former Senator Kamala D. Harris of California,” then let out a loud laugh and commented, “That was very weird.”
It marked an unusual beginning for the three men, who attended a presidential inauguration on their first day as senators and will count deliberating and voting in an impeachment trial as some of their earliest acts in office.
As jurors weighing whether former President Donald J. Trump should be convicted of “incitement of insurrection” for his role in egging on the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, the three men will be the only senators who were not present when the throng of pro-Trump rioters stormed the building.
With an evenly divided Senate for the first time since 2000, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, now the majority leader, and Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the top Republican, have yet to reach an agreement on how the chamber will operate. Mr. McConnell is pushing for a commitment from Democrats to leave the filibuster intact as part of any deal, a demand that Democrats are resisting.
Some progressive Democrats want their party to change longstanding Senate rules to eliminate the 60-vote threshold for advancing legislation, which would allow President Biden to push through his agenda over unified Republican opposition.
Lawmakers cleared the way for a Senate vote Wednesday night to confirm Avril D. Haines as the director of national intelligence, striking a last-ditch deal to avoid breaking the long tradition of confirming a new president’s top national security officials on Inauguration Day.
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The vote had been in doubt after a Republican, Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, put up a roadblock to Ms. Haines’s confirmation, demanding that she first commit in writing that she would not seek to reopen investigations into the C.I.A.’s use of torture following in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to aides familiar with the situation.
His announcement came not long after Mr. Cotton took to the Senate floor to say his objection had been resolved.
The lifting of the hold ensured that Mr. Biden would not be the first president in decades to end his Inauguration Day without at least some of his Cabinet in place — although unlike past presidents, he will not have any other members of his national security team in place immediately, a custom meant to signify the continuity of American power as the presidency changes hands. The confirmation process has been delayed this year because of the unusual nature of the presidential transition — in which the outgoing president never conceded and Republicans declined for weeks to recognize Mr. Biden’s victory — and the late resolution of two Georgia races that left the balance of power in the Senate up in the air until two weeks ago.
Mr. Cotton, another member of the intelligence panel, had questioned Ms. Haines during a closed session of her confirmation hearing on Tuesday about the role of intelligence review boards in scrutinizing the C.I.A.’s use of torture and whether she would seek to reopen old investigations into the agency’s post-Sept. 11 practices. One congressional staff member said Ms. Haines, who was the C.I.A.’s deputy director from 2013 to 2015, had clarified her response privately to Mr. Cotton, but the senator wanted her answer in writing.
Mr. Cotton, in his written question to Ms. Haines, said that in the closed session following her public testimony she had said that any move to expand the mandate of intelligence review boards would be “forward looking,” and that she would not try to revive the Obama administration’s examination of the C.I.A.’s interrogation program, use of torture or programs to send captured terrorists to other countries for questioning.
“Can you confirm that you will not reinvigorate efforts to prosecute, take administrative action against, or prejudice in any future promotion or selection panels any C.I.A. officer involved with that program under D.O.J. guidance and presidential direction?” Mr. Cotton wrote in his question.
Speaking on the Senate floor, Mr. Cotton said that Ms. Haines had clarified that she had no intention of reopening old investigations or retroactively exposing intelligence officers to criminal prosecution.
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“She’s confirmed that in the written record,” Mr. Cotton said. “I’m glad to see we’re not going to reopen that period. I want to thank Ms. Haines for providing the answer.”
President Biden was sworn into an office he has sought for more than 30 years, and Vice President Kamala Harris became the first woman — and the first woman of color — to hold that title. But there was no crowd on the National Mall to celebrate the moment.
It was, as Mr. Trump might have put it, an inauguration the likes of which no one has seen before.
A few hours later, Mr. Biden and the first lady, Jill Biden, stepped out of the presidential limousine and walked the final stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, accompanied by their grandchildren. Shortly before 4 p.m., to the notes of “Hail to the Chief,” they entered their new home and the door closed behind them.
The traditional ceremonies of the transfer of power went off without a hitch, and the widespread, potentially violent right-wing protests that law enforcement had feared around the country did not materialize — a reminder that in spite of the extraordinary circumstances, and Mr. Trump’s explicit efforts to undermine it, American democracy remained intact.
“This is the day when our democracy picks itself back up, brushes off the dust and does what America always does: goes forward as a nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,” Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota — the top Democrat on the Senate Rules Committee, which organized the inaugural — told the television cameras.
The new president and vice president left the Capitol shortly after noon, but the formalities were not over. Around 1:30 p.m., they returned for a traditional gift-giving ceremony. Between them, they received — among other things — a painting on loan from the Smithsonian, custom-made crystal vases and the flags that flew over the Capitol during the inauguration.
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Then they watched the traditional “Pass in Review” by representatives of the nation’s armed services and visited Arlington National Cemetery, where they participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns.
Three of the five living former presidents — Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton — attended the inauguration and accompanied Mr. Biden to Arlington National Cemetery later in the day. Former President Jimmy Carter, who is 96, stayed home for health reasons.
The newest addition to that group, Mr. Trump, chose to leave Washington rather than attend the inauguration and confront the reality of his loss, breaking from the tradition of almost every departing president in United States history. A small group of activists celebrated at Washington’s Black Lives Matter Plaza as he left the White House and boarded Marine One.
“Have a good life,” he told supporters at Joint Base Andrews, discarding prepared remarks before his final trip on Air Force One took him to West Palm Beach, Fla.
When the ceremony was over, Ms. Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, escorted the Pences out.
[cheering] “How are you feeling?” “Feeling great.” “We love you!” “Thank you.”
With the coronavirus pandemic curtailing the traditional presidential parade from the Capitol to the White House, the inauguration of President Biden replaced it with a made-for-screens montage of performers from all 56 states, territories and Washington, D.C.
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Mr. Biden and the first lady, Jill Biden, entered the White House for the first time as the first family shortly before 4 p.m., and the virtual “Parade Across America” kicked off.
The hourlong festivities were hosted by Tony Goldwyn, who played the president on the TV show “Scandal,” and included appearances by the former “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart, a reunion of the band New Radicals, an epic nationwide dance-off called Dance Across America, and Nathan Apodaca, the Idaho man who went viral on TikTok this summer for skateboarding while drinking cranberry juice and listening to Fleetwood Mac.
Among the performing groups were a student equestrian team from Culver Academies in Indiana, a tap dancing squad from Boone, N.C., the Kilgore College Rangerettes from Texas (who danced before replica oil derricks) and Bango, the mascot of the Milwaukee Bucks pro basketball franchise. (Remember, the Democratic National Convention was supposed to take place in the Bucks’ arena.)
The Bidens and Vice President Kamala Harris entered the White House following a small group marching in Washington that included drumlines from the alma maters of Mr. Biden (University of Delaware) and Ms. Harris (Howard University). According to the Presidential Inaugural Committee, the virtual parade included 1,391 participants, 95 horses and nine dogs.
President Biden will unleash a full-scale assault on his predecessor’s legacy on Wednesday, acting hours after taking the oath of office to sweep aside former President Donald J. Trump’s pandemic response, reverse his environmental agenda, tear down his anti-immigration policies, bolster the sluggish economic recovery and restore federal efforts aimed at promoting diversity.
Moving with an urgency not seen from any other modern president, Mr. Biden will sign 17 executive orders, memorandums and proclamations from the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon, according to the president’s top policy advisers.
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Individually, the actions are targeted at what the incoming president views as specific, egregious abuses by Mr. Trump during four tumultuous years. Collectively, his advisers said on Tuesday that Mr. Biden’s assertive use of executive authority was intended to be a hefty and visible down payment on one of his primary goals as president: to “reverse the gravest damages” done to the country by Mr. Trump.
“We face an attack on our democracy and on truth. A raging virus, growing inequity, the sting of systemic racism, a climate in crisis, America’s role in the world — any one of these would be enough to challenge us in profound ways,” Mr. Biden said during his Inaugural Address.
Mr. Biden’s actions will largely fall into four broad categories: the pandemic, economic struggles, immigration and diversity issues, and the environment and climate change.
President Biden has spent most of his life struggling with his words.
Yet, over the course of the 2020 campaign, and especially in the two months since his victory over former President Donald J. Trump, Mr. Biden has transformed himself into a steady hand who chooses words with extraordinary restraint.
The self-described “scrappy kid from Scranton,” who called Mr. Trump a “clown” and told him to “shut up” during their first debate, refused to take the political bait Mr. Trump laid for weeks after the election with his attempts to overturn the results. Rather than get sucked into the Trumpian chaos, Mr. Biden focused on announcing his cabinet and helping his party win two runoff races in Georgia. And with a second impeachment trial looming in the Senate, Mr. Biden has maintained his steadfast faith in the political center.
“There’s a more of a sense of a calm resolve now,” said Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester, Democrat of Delaware, who has known Mr. Biden for decades and served as a co-chair of his campaign. “Even the words that he uses that are fiery are very intentional now. He is where he is supposed to be at this moment.”
The coming year will test Mr. Biden’s self-discipline, as he takes office amid urgency from his own party to mark a decisive break with the Trump era by pushing through an aggressive policy agenda in the face of a divided Republican Party that is looking come together around a new foe. Mr. Biden and his aides are staking much on his ability to find the right words to restore America’s reputation, win bipartisan support in Congress and unite an anxious nation.
As President Biden assumed the White House on Wednesday, several social media companies completed their own transitions of highly followed official accounts.
But this year, Twitter did not transfer the followers of each account to Mr. Biden. Instead, accounts with smaller followings, mostly created last week, were transformed into the official ones.
The accounts rapidly began gaining followers, and Mr. Biden sent his first tweet as president from the @POTUS account at 12:36 p.m. “There is no time to waste when it comes to tackling the crises we face,” he wrote.
There is no time to waste when it comes to tackling the crises we face. That's why today, I am heading to the Oval Office to get right to work delivering bold action and immediate relief for American families.
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris received a series of gifts from congressional leaders on Wednesday afternoon, an occasion for lawmakers from both parties to honor their inauguration.
During a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, lawmakers presented them with Lenox crystal vases, flags that had been flown over the Capitol during the inauguration and framed photographs of their swearing-in ceremonies.
“Our task as leaders is to bind this nation’s wounds,” said Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the minority leader. He added that Ms. Harris had “made history, and all of America should celebrate that.”
It was a starkly different message than the one Mr. McCarthy had sent two weeks earlier, when he was among the Republican lawmakers who voted to overturn the election results hours after a mob of Trump loyalists stormed the Capitol.
Mr. President, Dr. Biden, Madam Vice President, Mr. Emhoff, Americans and the world. When day comes, we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never-ending shade the loss? The loss we carry asea we must wade. We’ve braved the belly of the beast. We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace. In the norms and notions of what just is, isn’t always justice. And yet the dawn is hours before we knew it. Somehow we do it. Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken, but simply unfinished. We, the successors of a country and a time, where a skinny black girl, descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president, only to find herself reciting for one. And yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine. But that doesn’t mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect. We are striving to forge our union with purpose, to compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man. And so we lift our gaze, not to what stands between us, but what stands before us. We close the divide because we know to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside. We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another. We seek harm to none, and harmony for all. Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true. That even as we grieved, we grew. That even as we hurt, we hoped, that even as we tired. we tried, that will forever be tied together victorious. Not because we will never again know defeat, but because we will never again sow division. Scripture tells us to envision that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid. If we’re to live up to our own time, then victory won’t lie in the blade. But in all the bridges we’ve made. That is the promise promise to glade, the hill we climb. If only we dare it. Because being American is more than a pride we inherit. It’s the past we step into, and how we repair it. We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it. Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy. And this effort very nearly succeeded. But while democracy can be periodically delayed, it can never be permanently defeated. In this truth, in this faith, we trust. For while we have our eyes on the future, our history has its eyes on us. This is the era of just redemption. We feared it at its inception. We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour. But within it, we found the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves. So while once we asked, how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe, now we assert how could catastrophe possibly prevail over us? We will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be, a country that is bruised but whole. Benevolent but bold, fierce and free. We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation. Our blunders become their burdens. But one thing is certain. If we merge mercy with might, and might with rights, then love becomes our legacy and change our children’s birthright. So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left with. Every breath, my bronze-pounded chest. We will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one. We will rise from the gold-limned hills of the West. We will rise from the windswept Northeast where our forefathers first realized revolution. We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the Midwestern states. We will rise from the sun-baked South. We will rebuild, reconcile and recover in every known nook of our nation, in every corner called our country. Our people, diverse and beautiful, will emerge battered and beautiful. When day comes, we step out of the shade of flame and unafraid. The new dawn blooms as we free it. For there was always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.
Ms. Gorman managed to write a few lines a day and was about halfway through the poem on Jan. 6, when pro-Trump rioters stormed into the halls of Congress, some bearing weapons and Confederate flags. She stayed awake late into the night and finished the poem, adding verses about the apocalyptic scene that unfolded at the Capitol that day:
We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it,
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.
And this effort very nearly succeeded.
But while democracy can be periodically delayed,
It can never be permanently defeated.
Still, while she has been in the spotlight before, she had never performed her work for a televised audience that will likely number in the tens of millions.
Plus, none of Ms. Gorman’s inaugural poet predecessors faced the challenge that she did. She set out to write a poem that would inspire hope and foster a sense of collective purpose, at a moment when Americans are reeling from a deadly pandemic, political violence and partisan division.
[Singing of ”The Star-Spangled Banner”]
When Lady Gaga performed the national anthem at President Biden’s swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday, it was the culmination of a years-long relationship in which the two have shared the spotlight.
Before the inauguration, Lady Gaga said on Twitter that she was honored to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Mr. Biden’s inauguration, which she called “a ceremony, a transition, a moment of change.”
In a second tweet, she added: “My intention is to acknowledge our past, be healing for our present, and passionate for a future where we work together lovingly. I will sing to the hearts of all people who live on this land.”
At the Capitol, she wore an oversized gold pin depicting a dove with an olive branch, as she sang into a golden microphone while Mr. Biden looked on.
Lady Gaga campaigned in November with Mr. Biden in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state that he won. The evening before Election Day, she performed at the Biden campaign’s final rally.
Her appearance drew criticism from President Donald J. Trump’s campaign, which accused her of being an anti-fracking activist, and from Mr. Trump himself.
“Lady Gaga is not too good,” Mr. Trump said at a rally in November. “I could tell you plenty of stories. I could tell you stories about Lady Gaga. I know a lot of stories.” He did not elaborate.
The singer’s ties to Mr. Biden date back to his time as vice president, when they worked together on the White House’s campaign to fight sexual assault on college campuses.
“I’m here today with not only a great friend, but a fierce advocate,” Mr. Biden said in the video.
As the acting deputy Senate sergeant-at-arms, Officer Goodman, a Black man who fended off a mostly white throng, was part of the official escort accompanying Vice President Kamala Harris to the platform outside the Capitol where she was sworn into the nation’s second-highest office.
The mention of his name was greeted with loud applause as he appeared at the arched entranceway where rioters breached the building exactly two weeks earlier.
Officer Goodman, who was filmed and photographed luring the mob away from the unguarded doors to the Senate chamber a minute before they were locked, has been hailed as a hero on Capitol Hill for preventing the invaders from breaching the chamber while senators were still inside. Officer Goodman’s actions gave the lawmakers time to evacuate to a secure location before the rioters could enter.
In the wake of the Jan. 6 siege, a massive security failure, the top security officials on Capitol Hill — including the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms — resigned, with permanent successors yet to be named.
Forget red and blue (states). The theme of the Biden inauguration was “America United,” and the color of the day seemed to be purple — the shade that bridges the divide by bringing both colors together (not to mention one of the original signature colors of the suffragists, whose dreams are now being realized with the first woman vice president).
Though Dr. Jill Biden coordinated her blue Markarian coat with her husband’s blue Ralph Lauren tie, Vice President Kamala Harris served up a bipartisan message in a bright single-breasted coat and dress from Christopher John Rodgers, as did former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a grape Ralph Lauren pantsuit. And Michelle Obama, the former first lady, wore wine trousers with a coordinated turtleneck and long coat from Sergio Hudson, a young Black designer.
Masks were also part of the material culture of this inauguration. Dr. Biden wore a sky blue mask that appeared custom-made to match her coat, and other members of her family chose a similar monochromatic theme. Ms. Harris opted for a shiny black number that complimented her purple outfit, one of her signature mask looks.
Despite the very high fashion content of President Joe Biden’s swearing in, which included Lady Gaga in a veritable ball gown from Schiaparelli, Ella Emhoff in a crystal-dusted tweed Miu Miu coat with a big white collar; and Jennifer Lopez in winter white Chanel, it was Senator Bernie Sanders, not normally known for his style statements, whose choice of accessories may have had the widest impact. Specifically, Mr. Sanders’ woolly mittens, in a sort of brown and cream Himalayan sweater pattern, which seemed to have charmed practically half the social media world, which began where they could buy a pair.
“I made Bernie’s mittens as a gift a couple years ago,” she wrote, posting a photo of other similar creations. “They are made from repurposed wool sweaters and lined with fleece (made from recycled plastic bottles).”
In response a friend noted, “you better buy some titanium knitting-needles lol, you’ll need them, you just became the world’s most famous ‘mitten knitter’.” And thus the new administration appears to be keeping its vow to jump-start small businesses already.
Under the menu, “Español” is prominent in light blue font as a way to navigate the site. From the address, “La Casa Blanca 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW,” to the privacy policy, the site’s pages are viewable in Spanish.
Whitehouse.gov now includes a variety of accessibility components, such as high-contrast and large text modes, according to Matt Hodges, an engineering director on the Biden team. An accessibility statement on the site reads: “This commitment to accessibility for all begins with this site and our efforts to ensure all functionality and all content is accessible to all Americans.”
You are amazing people. This is a great, great country. It is my greatest honor and privilege to have been your president. I will always fight for you. I will be watching. I will be listening. And I will tell you that the future of this country has never been better. I wish the new administration great luck and great success.
“Have a good life, we will see you soon,” Mr. Trump said at the end of off-the-cuff remarks delivered to supporters at Joint Base Andrews, discarding a prepared statement and ignoring advisers who thought he should have thanked Mr. Biden by name.
“We were not a regular administration,” Mr. Trump said, delivering a truncated version of his self-aggrandizing campaign rally speech, and imploring those gathered — most without masks — to “remember” all of his accomplishments.
“We will be back in some form,” he added, before walking away from his last appearance as the nation’s commander in chief to the strains of “Y.M.C.A.” by the Village People. His vice president, Mike Pence, did not attend his farewell event.
Despite flouting most of the conventions associated with the peaceful transfer of power, Mr. Trump did abide by one presidential norm — leaving the traditional note to Mr. Biden in the Oval Office, according to a White House official.
It was not clear what the letter said. Mr. Pence, who tried briefly and belatedly to ease the transition, also left a note for his successor, Kamala Harris, aides said.
Mr. Trump left the White House on a red carpet, hand in hand with Melania Trump, who wore a dark suit and sunglasses, and spoke briefly with reporters before boarding his helicopter, where he stood in the doorway one last instant, waving goodbye with his right hand.
The Marine One helicopter took off from the South Lawn of the White House at about 8:18 a.m. for the short flight to Joint Base Andrews in suburban Maryland, where Mr. Trump held the farewell event, including a 21-gun salute, with administration veterans and other supporters. After that, he and Mrs. Trump boarded Air Force One for the journey to Florida, where they will reside. The plane landed about an hour before Mr. Biden’s oath of office.
Air Force One landed at Palm Beach International Airport at 10:54 a.m., bringing Mr. Trump to his adopted home state for his final hour as president.
The tarmac was silent as the plane rolled down and around the runway, other than the occasional clicking of a photo camera and the roar of the engine. Mr. Trump and Mrs. Trump stepped off the plane about 10 minutes later.
Mr. Trump, who had considered staging a rally for his return to private life, waved at a small contingent of supporters, perhaps 20 people, who silently waved back. He did not take questions.
New York Times reporters provided live coverage of Inauguration Day, as former President Donald J. Trump departed the White House and President Joseph R. Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States.
In slipping out of Washington before the festivities on Wednesday, Mr. Trump capped a norm-busting tenure by defying one last convention. He refused to host the traditional coffee that presidents hold for their successors at the White House on the morning of the inauguration. And he opted to skip the swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol, normally a symbol of the American tradition of peaceful transfer of power that is attended by both departing and incoming presidents.
No president has refused to attend his successor’s inauguration since 1869, when Andrew Johnson, miffed that Ulysses S. Grant would not share a carriage with him to the Capitol, refused at the last minute to get into the separate carriage arranged for him and skipped the ceremony. (Woodrow Wilson traveled to the Capitol for Warren G. Harding’s inauguration in 1921, but did not remain for the ceremony because of his failing health.)
Mr. Trump, however, never came to terms with his defeat in the 2020 election.
“Could you imagine if I lose?” he said at a rally in Georgia in October. “My whole life, what am I going to do? I’m going to say I lost to the worst candidate in the history of politics. I’m not going to feel so good. Maybe I’ll have to leave the country. I don’t know.”
Instead, he boasted of his accomplishments cutting taxes, eliminating regulations, appointing conservative judges and revising trade deals. “The movement we started,” he said, “is only just beginning,”
In the waning minutes of his term, former President Donald J. Trump granted a pardon to Al Pirro, the ex-husband of Jeanine Pirro, his favorite Fox News host, an administration official said.
Mr. Pirro was convicted of tax evasion and conspiracy in 2000, while his wife was the district attorney in Westchester County. He was sentenced to 29 months in prison.
The latest round of pardons and commutations followed dozens last month, when Mr. Trump pardoned associates like Paul Manafort and Roger J. Stone Jr., and four Blackwater guards convicted in connection with the killing of Iraqi civilians.
Here are other people who were granted clemency by Mr. Trump:
Many of the recipients could be charged with more crimes than those for which they were convicted, he said.
It would be “unusually simple” to bring new charges against him, Mr. Weissmann argued, in part because prosecutors could use Mr. Manafort’s sworn admissions of his guilt as evidence.
